Very Professional?
by lestrangexoxo
Summary: SSX 3 This year the competition's fierce - and so are the attitudes.
1. Introductions Part 1

Allegra shut her eyes again. There was no way she could get back to sleep now, he wouldn't let her now he knew she was awake. She glanced down at her M-Comm again. Yeah, he'd text her - _again. _What on Earth was wrong with him? She gave up and got dressed.

"Oi, Allegra!" Zoe called out from underneath her covers. Allegra glanced at her roomate's bed.

"Yeah?"

"Where you goin' so damn early?" Zoe moaned, turning over, and pulling the covers over her eyes. "And turn the light off!"

"Sorry," Allegra replied, but still didn't turn it off. "I gotta go."

"I'll kill him. I will actually kill him… It is him isn't it? He won't leave you alone!" Zoe's muffled voice said.

"Yeah," Allegra sighed. "But go easy on him, you know he hates who he shares a room with, you can't expect him to stay there any longer than he has to," She tried to back up her friend.

"Yeah, I can," Zoe replied simply. "Now turn the damn light out!"

The breakfast hall was empty. Exept Viggo. He grinned at Allegra when she walked in.

"Heyyyyy," He said, ushering her over to the table.

"Morning." She answered stiffly.

"Aww, come on! Lighten up would you! I've spent an entire night with Fraser and Grommet, how'd you think I feel? I've not slept at all!" He complained, but still grinning like an idiot.

"Go on then," Allegra knew what was coming. "What happened this time?"

"Well," Viggo began. It didn't happen that a night would pass by peacefully in his room. It just didn't happen.

"Mac was watching TV until about midnight, and he let Grommet watch some horror film that was definitely an 18. So, at one in the morning, I got a small kid run at my bed, complaining he can't sleep 'cause he's scared. So I tell him where to stick it! He cries, I say sorry, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then Grommet spends the _entire_ night playing video games to take his mind off the horror film, so I hit Mac with something, Mac hits me with something. Mac chases me round the appartment with a kitchen knife, Grommet screams," He paused for breath.

"Next thing we know, Atomika's banging on the door yelling at us the shut the hell up, and that if we make him get out of bed one more time, then we're suspended for the next event!" He finally stopped talking.

"Oh… right." Allegra answered, not entirely sure how to answer that type of statement. Viggo sat back in his chair, satisfied with that answer.

"So, how was your night then?" He asked, knowing full well the answer.

"Fine." She replied, forcing a smile.

Viggo enjoyed her company, but maybe a little too much. He kept telling himself that he just liked her because they got on; they were on the same page all the time. But he knew it was different to that, really. He just knew.

"Ooooowwwww! Vigggooooo!" A yell from the other end of breakfast hall. Viggo didn't bothered to turn around.

"What, Psymon?" He said sharply. Psymon pretended to look hurt.

"What, Viggo?" He replied, matching his tone exactly.

Viggo smirked.

"So," Psymon said, inviting himself to sit with them. "You called Sophia yet?"

"Who?" Viggo asked, confused. Psymon grinned at him.

"That girl, from last night. At the party," He nudged him. Viggo rolled his eyes.

"No. And I'm not going to," He said stubbornly.

"Whyyyyy?"

"Because I don't like her. That's why." Viggo stated.

"Fine. Be like that," Psymon folded his arms.

"I will."

"You do that."  
"I shall."

"Okay then."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Excellent."

"Hey Eliiiiiiise!" Psymon broke their conversation to annoy the 'Bombshell'. She barely glanced at him before replying.

"Fuck you." She glared at him. Psymon chuckled evilly.

"What did you do?" A voice said from behind him. He twisted around.

Zoe was stood behind him, her hands on his shoulders, grinning. He smiled back.

"Only caught her doing the naaaasty with some random snow dude." Psymon shrugged. Zoe giggled, then glanced back at the blonde who was now making herself a coffee.

"Hey, Elise!" She yelled. The blonde turned around. "You sure it wasn't Atomika?"

"Okay, Zoe, you asked for it!" Elise screamed. Without warning a coffee cup flew threw the air, only just skimming the top of Zoe's head and smashing violently against the wall.

"Missed me." Zoe grinned back at her.

"Yeah, well I'm not going to at Metro City today. I know for a fact that you haven't put in the hours this week." Elise stated.

"Haha," Zoe laughed. "You know I beat you hands down anytime. Who cares if I have better things to do than spend every second on the slopes… or shagging DJs…"

Elise composed herself. Why did Zoe always have to take it one step too far? But, two can play at that game.

"I know. You're just too busy pretending not to be completely and utterly in _love_ with Psymon. Ciao," She smiled coldly and left the room in a stoney silence.

Zoe laughed nervously. "She's such a bitch,"

Psymon nodded, his mind racing. _Elise always lies._ He told himself. _Why should this be any different?... Because it's Zoe._

"I gotta go. I mean, we got a race later… I'll see you on the slope." He said quickly, dashing from the room.

Zoe shrunk into a chair. She never let anything get her down, but she seemed to really be fighting to stop this from eating away at her. She shook her head forcfully and smiled back at the other two.

"Erm…" Viggo looked towards the doors. "Well that was interesting."

"Psh, you can talk, _Scanner_." Zoe retorted. Viggo gave her a hard stare.

Allegra pretended not to hear that.

Scanner was a cool nick-name if you're in a club or a bar and with your mates. It was not a cool nick-name when you're after one specific girl and want nothing to do with the rest.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't…" Zoe started to say, noticing the effect it had on both her competitors.

"It's fine," Viggo interupted her. "Don't sweat it."


	2. Introductions Part 2

Mac hated the afternoons. They were always boring, and counter-preductive. Viggo was never around, although Mac didn't really want him around anyway. Griff was usually lurking somewhere, following Nate or hiding from Psymon. He'd ususally leap at the opportunity to try and 'learn' from Mac if he was headed to the slopes, and by 'learn' it generally meant watch and then fall over trying it out.

There was a knock on the door. Mac leapt of the bed and opened the door.

Atomika stood glaring at him.

"Oh, hey, Atomika, nice of you to drop by." Mac said sarcastically.

"Fraser, if I have to tell you one more time about the damn music!"

"_Look_," Mac interupted him. "Just because I'm not listening to your show… Hang on, aren't you supposed to be there now? You know… doing your job?" Mac asked the DJ.

Atomika rolled his eyes. "I don't work there all day, every day, you know."

"Oh," Mac nodded. "Gotcha. Well, if that's all, I'll be seeing ya… or not." He shut the door quickly, then heard Atomika swear under his breath and leave. _Good ridance_. Mac thought. The door went again, and he bolted it open.

"Look, Atomika-" He started, but the realised it wasn't the bad tempered DJ. Kaori stood confused in the doorway.

"What are you talking about, Mac?" She said, glancing down the corridor.

"Ha, nothing," Mac replied quickly, suddenly embarassed about his mistake. "Come in," He stood back to allow her into the room. She stepped inside.

"You can tell you live with Griff and Viggo," She laughed, observing the room.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean, Griff's left a packet of biscuits on his bed-"

"Uhh… that was me." Mac mumbled, even more embarrassed now.

Kaori laughed again. "Right, trust you Mac!" She grinned.

"And then Viggo's left hair product bottles _everywhere_," She turned around slightly. She was right. Viggo was really hair-concious, and the more products he had, the better. He just didn't know how to organise them… or didn't try.

Kaori sat down on Mac's bed, he did the same.

"You coming down to Metro City tonight?" She asked him, moving the biscuit packet onto the bedside table.

"Yeah," He answered. "Are you?"

"No," She shook her head. "I always skip the first race, you know that," She smiled. Yeah, Mac did know that.

In the room next door, Moby sat around the table, playing cards with Nate. Nate was winning.

"So, Moby," Nate started up conversation. "I hear Zoe's got a thing for Psymon, y'know," He said quickly. He knew he had to tell his friend, but really didn't want to.

Moby forcefully put another card on the table.

"I know," He said. "I knew that before."

Nate nodded. "Right."

"And while we're on this topic," Moby continued. "You know that it's only a matter of time before Viggo makes a move on her, don't you?"

"Who?" Nate asked, although his eyes told Moby that he knew exactly what he was talking about.

Moby simply looked back at him.

"I know," Nate replied. "Flush." He put all his cards on the table.


	3. Metro City Drama

"SSX welcomes you to the Metro City race event!" The voiceover boomed out across the course.

Allegra sat by herself, kicking her board. It never did anything, it was practically un-breakable.

"Hey," She heard a voice behind her.

"Hiya, Viggo," She said, not bothering to turn around. He sat down beside her. She smirked - his trade mark headband around his mess of blond hair. He grinned back at her.

"You should really get a new trade mark." She smiled at him.

"Nah," He patted the red and white headband. "It's lucky," Allegra nodded.

They both quickly looked over to the opposite side of the competitor area, where a pretty vicious shouting match was going on.

"Oh yeah? _Really_? And how's Atomika?" Zoe screamed back at Elise.

"Ha, you're one to talk! Have you even _told_ Psymon? Or are you too _shy_?" Elise yelled back. Zoe pushed her backwards.

"At least now we know how you even got on to SSX! You shagged your way in!" Zoe pushed her again. Elise slapped her.

"That's it, Payne!" She screamed, and lept on Zoe, who instictively raised her foot and kicked Elise. She fell straight back into Nate, who caught her without trouble.

"Okay, okay," Nate pulled Elise away from Zoe, while Moby grabbed Zoe's arms and forced her in the opposite direction. "Break it up,"

Zoe tried to wrestle herself free from Moby's grip. "Bitch!" She screamed back at Elise.

"Oh no, here comes trouble," Viggo muttered as Atomika strolled over, seeing the situation. He removed his more than pretentious sunglasses and stared at the girls.

"Alright, so what's going-" He started to say.

"You're unbelievable!" Zoe shouted at the DJ, before she shrugged away from Moby and strided off away from them.

She threw herself at the bench next to Allegra.

"I hate her so much," She muttered. "She's such a bitch."

Allegra didn't reply, it was best just to let Zoe cool off before she began conversation, but unfortunately there was no time for that.

"Could the competitors please make their way to the start line!" The voiceover rang out again. Everyone made a move.

The race began with Mac in the lead, but Zoe close behind, and she was not in a mood to be messed with.

"Oi, Fraser! Move your ass!" Zoe yelled out to him, as she swerved to level with him.

"Hell, Payne, you're on fire, guuuurl!" Mac grinned at her before speeding off ahead, so Zoe sped up in hot persuit.

The course swept around, Out of Bounds glasses tempting riders all over the place, every corner they took had opportunity.

Viggo was left in eight place, as Griff had just leapt in front of him. _Great,_ He thought _I'm beaten by a twelve year old!_ He sped through the first Out of Bounds he saw.

Allegra was doing well, she thought. In third place, but a fair distance behind Zoe and Mac.

She heard a loud smash to her right, she spared a few seconds to turn around.

Something clattered through the glass and landed with a _bang_ onto the snow below.

"Owwww…"

Allegra gasped. "Viggo!" She screamed.

"Go on, I'm fine!" He yelled back, trying to get up. He grabbed his leg. "Shit!" He groaned in pain. "Allegra! Move! Keep going!" He shouted to her. She thought about staying with him, but it would probably do no good, so she did as she was told.

The finish was in sight, Zoe and Mac were neck and neck.

"I got this Peak covered!" Mac yelled, suddenly accelerating and zooming ahead of Zoe and across the finish. Zoe followed quickly, but was not at all satisfied with the result. She fist-planted the finish post in anger.

Allegra swerved through the gate a few minutes later, in third position.

"Where's Viggo?" She called out to Zoe, un-hooking her board as fast as she could.

"In the Medic's tent," Zoe told her, throwing dagger glares at Mac, who was no celebrating and predending to be DJ-ing. Allegra didn't wait for more details before she sprinted off towards the tent.

Nate finished next, closely followed by a very pissed off Elise, then Moby, and finally, Griff.

"Allegra!" Viggo called out to her as she stumbled into the tent. He was sat on a chair, with his leg on another, a cast around it.

"What the hell did you do?" She asked, her eyes wide as she sat down next to him.

"Ha, yeah… I took one of the Out of Bounds routes, and well…" He nodded towards his leg. "It didn't work." He shrugged.

"Is it broken?" Allegra asked him.

Viggo shook his head. "I fractured it. But it's alright, it's not near the joints, so it should heal quickly." He explained. Allegra sighed with relief.

"You're more worried about me than I am!" Viggo laughed.

"Ha…" Allegra tried to laugh, but realised he was right. She was always like this with him though, he always seemed really important to her.

Without warning, she hugged him. He grinned and put his arm around her.


	4. After Race Party

The Race lounge was buzzing after the event. Mac was parading around like an idiot, and every now and then he'd get up do a few sets on the decks.

Viggo was sat at the back of the room, crutches balanced against the sofa, with his leg on the chair on the other side of the table. Allegra sat next to him, with Zoe across the table.

"You know, Viggo, if you wanna know the best short-cuts, you should have asked," Zoe grinned at him. "When your back boarding, I'll show you the fastest track down the city." She took a sip of her drink. Viggo nodded back blankly. He didn't want to talk about boarding, he wouldn't be able to do it for at least a month.

Zoe felt hands in her hair, and whipped around, she smiled when she saw who it was.

"Hey, Psymon!" She grinned. He tusselled her hair, then pulled up a chair from another table.

"Viggooooo, I heard yannooo. You're an idiot," He laughed.

"Yeah, yeah okay -"

"Rookie mistake." They said at the same time, then burst out laughing.

"Damn straight," Viggo agreed. "I totally shouldn't have done that," He shook his head, glancing back down at the cast.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it," Allegra tried to be positive. "How were you supposed to know?"

Viggo nodded weakly.

The doors swung opened, and Elise Riggs strode through them, smiling like nothing had happened before the race, and she hadn't finished in a dismal fifth place.

"Nate!" She called out, walking over to him, swinging her hips in a very exaggerated manor. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Elise," Nate greeted her, slightly unsure about her presents, he didn't usually warrant such a gift.

"She's such a bitch," Zoe muttered darkly. Psymon simply nodded, not fully understanding why Zoe's hate for Elise had increased so much in twenty-four hours.

"Hell no. Here comes trouble." Viggo was looking across the room, where Mac Fraser was now making his way clearly over to their table.

"I'd run away if I could." Viggo said, just quiet enough for Mac not to hear.

"Hey! Viggo!" He called out. "What happened, dawg? I mean, I was like a whole seven places in front, so I didn't see," He pretended to sound concerned, but everyone knew he was just stealing the opportunity to gloat.

"Yeah, I fell through a glass plate." Viggo replied stiffly.

"Right, yeah… painful-"

"I know." Viggo interupted him.

Mac ignored the definate dislike in Viggo's voice, and sat down next to Allegra.

"_You_ did well," He said to her, a slick smile on his face.

"Thanks," She went a shade of pink. "You did better though,"  
He shrugged. "I got lucky."  
"Hell you did!" Zoe piped up. He grinned back at her.

The music suddenly changed to put on something that sounded like _Ride of the Valkaries_.

"Here it comes." Allegra and Zoe said at the same time, as everyone turned to look at the stage.

DJ Atomika strolled onto the stage like he owned it, in a sleek black shirt and blue skinny jeans… and the pretentious sunglasses perched on top of his head. He took the microphone.

"Hey there everyone," He called out. "Just wanted to say a quick congrats to Mac Fraser, first place!" There was an uproar of applause. Not a lot of it from competitors though.

"And just to say that the next race is on Monday… and unfortunately, Viggo Rolig will not be taking part."

Viggo glared at the DJ.

"Enough with the moody face, Rolig, it was obvious you weren't competing," Atomika told him sternly. Viggo folded his arms and averted his gaze.

"Alright, I can tell when I'm not wanted, Viggo," Atomika called out again, not expecting a reply.

"Damn straight!" Viggo yelled back at him.

Atomika looked slightly taken aback, but not entirely surprised. "Night, all." He said shortly, then left the stage.

"Fucking bastard." Viggo said quietly.


	5. Secrets

The guys appartment was way messier than the girls, Allegra noticed as she was invited inside. There were magazines and chocolate wrappers all over the place, and none of the beds were made. She smiled, it was exactly what she'd expected.

Viggo threw himself down onto his bed, letting the crutches fall next to him.

"I hate this already." He told Allegra.

She smiled back at him and sat down opposite, only to spring back off it. A pair of boxer shorts lay on the bed. She simply looked back at Viggo.

He shrugged. "Blame Mac. They're his,"

Allegra threw the shorts across the room in disgust and sat back down.

"That's better." She smiled.

"Hey, I found something out the other day, Ally," Viggo said suddenly, leaning forwards a bit. "About Nate -"

The door burst open, and laughter suddenly filled the room.

"Never mind." Viggo said shortly, leaning back against the wall.

Mac wandered into the room, his arm around his Japenese riding partner, he stopped laughing when he saw the room already had people inside.

"Ha… uh, thought you were out." He said quietly.

"No," Viggo answered. "But it can be arranged."

"Much appreciated." Mac tried to give him a friendly smile, but it was completely transparent.

Viggo grabbed his crutches and hopped of the bed, Allegra followed him through the door, which Mac quickly shut after they'd left.

"I hate him so much," Viggo muttered.

"Come on, surely he's not that bad," Allegra said as they made their way through the hotel lobby.

"Yeah, he is. He's awful," Viggo moaned. "And he's got it in for me. Completely."

"I'm sure he hasn't," Allegra tried to reassure him.

Viggo silently disagreed.

Zoe sat on her veranda, looking over the peak. She loved the snow, not just for riding, but it was so pretty. The snow seemed far less pretty when someone else showed up on it. Elise was hanging out down below the lodge, at one of the parks. She was with Nate Logan. Something then caught Zoe's eye.

"Come _on_, Nate, where's your sense of fun?" Elise asked him, holding his hand as she dragged him through the park.

"Yeah, Elise, I have to be somewhere else now… I told you I didn't have time," He tried to tell her, but she wasn't having any of it.

"What? Don't you like me now? You sure seemed to last night…" Elise pouted, looking hurt.

"Ugh, I feel sick." Zoe muttered to herself. She left the veranda and shut the glass doors with force.

Allegra walked slowly by Viggo's side, as they made their way to the park.

"Uh… Viggo, what was it you were gonna tell me about Nate?" Allegra asked suddenly, her eyes wide and focused on something to their right. Viggo followed her gaze. Nate Logan was making out, pretty intensely, with Elise Riggs.

"Nothing," He replied with a grin. "Nothing, it doesn't matter."


	6. Friends After All

Moby was sat alone in his appartment. He had been desperately trying to avoid Psymon, because of the whole 'conflict of interest' situation with Zoe. He was out today though, for the Competitor Spotlight interview with Atomika.

_It's doing you no good just moping around the flat._ Moby told himself. He was right.

Zoe stared at the mirror. She tried constantly to make herself look prettier, with various hair-dies, changing her colour almost every week, her eyeliner and make-up. She took it all off. Her extensions and all of her make-up and hated what she saw.

There was a knock at the door.

"Crap." Zoe muttered. She'd got no time to do anything before she had to answer the door. She peered through the glass hole in the door. Moby. She sighed with relief, and opened the door.

"Hey," She smiled at her friend.

"Zoe! You look way different," He stared at her, as he wandered into the appartment.

"Good different? Or bad different?" She asked, suddenly embarassed he'd noticed so quickly.

"Good," Moby replied. "Definitely good."

Zoe smiled back.

Moby sat down at the chair by the desk.

"How are you then?" He asked her.

She nodded. "I'm okay… why? You sound concerned about me!" She laughed, but it was only for show.

"No, it's just, what, with everybody talking about Psymon all the time…" Moby let his sentence trail, there was no need to continue it.

"Right, and you think I can't handle that?" Zoe snapped back, suddenly defensive.

"No, I was just asking, Zoe, you are my friend, after all," He shrugged. "But okay, next time I won't bother."  
She sighed. "Yeah… sorry Moby. I'm just a bit wound up right now," She explained. Moby nodded understandingly.

Zoe flopped back onto her bed. "I hate it, Moby."

"You hate what?"

"_This_,"

"What?"

"Everything."

"Zoe, I have no idea what you're talking about."

She sighed again.

"Everything, Moby. Just everything. People talking about me behind my back constantly, Elise trying to deliberately upset me, and I'm trying, I'm _really_ trying, not let her get to me. But it's difficult."

Moby nodded. He had to ask, he couldn't stop himself. "So you do like him then?"

She swallowed hard. "Yeah." She sounded almost like she was about to burst into tears. And to Moby's surprise, she raised her hand to her cheek and wiped away a tear.

He appeared by her side, as she put her head onto his shoulder, and hugged him. Moby slid his arms around her. Even if she didn't like him like that… they were still friends after all.

As Viggo made his way back to the appartment, Kaori walked past him in the corridor, grinning.

"Heya, Viggo!" She said brightly.

"Hey," He nodded back, as she practically skipped away from him.

_No guesses as to what's happened in our appartment then._ Viggo thought, opening the door.

Mac sprung upright as soon as he heard the door. His hair was all over the place, and his shirt was buttoned up wrong. He tried his best to look somewhat innocent.

"You look bloody awful." Viggo said simply, sitting down on the bed.

"Ha, you might not wanna sit there." Mac muttered, a smirk on his face. Viggo grabbed his crutches with some speed, and got to his feet.

"Go on then, where _can_ I sit?" Viggo asked him, glancing around the room. "Is my own bed safe?"

"Not really…" Mac looked away.

"What?" Viggo exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"Just kidding, honest." Mac grinned back at him.

"I hate you." Viggo mumbled, throwing himself down onto his bed.

"I hate you, too." Mac sat down opposite him, trying to smooth out his hair.

Viggo hated it when Mac was like that. He doesn't think about what he's doing, he never does. And sometimes, his jokes weren't even funny to Viggo, they just wound him up.

"I thought you were Griff when you came in then. You scared me." Mac laughed. Viggo smirked.

"Yeah, just what you want that, right?" Viggo grinned, his mood lifting slightly. Mac smiled.

"Hey, erm, how's it going with Allegra then?" Mac asked him roommate, trying to change the subject away from his own relationship.

Viggo shrugged. "It's okay, I guess," Viggo thought for a moment. He may as well ask. "I wanted to ask your advice though."

"Oh, erm, okay… Guess I am somewhat of an expert," Mac grinned back at him, looking smug.

"Nah, it's not like that. I got no problems there, mate," Viggo told him. "It's about Nate. I found out that he likes Allegra… but now he's with Elise, and I was just… well," He sighed. "Should I tell her, or not?"

Mac thought for a minute.

"No," He replied. "Don't say anything. Pretend you don't know."


	7. Jokes?

Allegra walked alone into the breakfast suite. It wasn't empty, but there were only a few tables occupied at all. She saw Nate sitting by himself reading a newspaper, sipping coffee. He peered over the paper, and smiled at Allegra, and she walked over to sit with him.

'Hey,' He greeted her, folding up the newspaper and setting it down on the table.

'Hi,' Allegra smiled back.

'Allie, I was just wondering… you got any time on your hands this morning? I wanted to talk to you,' Nate said, it had sounded so awkward in his head, but he managed to pretend to be confident.

'Oh, yeah sure. I've got nothing planned,' She replied, wondering what he wanted to talk to her about. Allegra felt slightly nervous about it though, when people say they want to 'talk' it generally means either something really embarrassing or something really bad.

Nate didn't get a chance to tell her whatever it was, as the suite doors opened with a bang. Viggo strolled through them like he owned the place, laughing about something with Psymon.

'Hey, Allegra!' He called to her, coming to sit next to her. Nate sighed.

'Never mind. I gotta go,' Nate said quickly, crossing Viggo in the centre of the room. Viggo sat down.

'What was that about?' He asked her, glancing back as Nate fled the room.

'No idea.' Allegra answered honestly.

Psymon sat down across the table from them.

'Who cares? The guy's nuts, he was reading a _newspaper_! I mean, seriously, what a freak.' Psymon grinned, flicking the paper off the table. Viggo laughed.

'Don't be like that. Nate's nice.' Allegra stood up for her friend. The boys stopped laughing.

'Really?' Viggo leaned forwards. 'Do you think so?' There was spite in his voice.

'Of course I do,' She replied, slightly taken aback by Viggo's tone. 'He's my friend.'

Viggo sat back again. 'Your friend,' He repeated. 'Just your friend?'

'Yes,' Allegra answered forcefully. Viggo smiled to himself. 'Why? What's it matter to you?'

He shrugged. 'As your friend, I don't want you to end up with him. I don't like him.'

'Oh really? And anyone I want to date has to be approved by you, then?' Allegra grinned back at him.

'Yeah. Something like that.' Viggo smirked. Psymon glanced between the pair of them. He knew Allegra didn't realise how close to the truth she really was.

'Ha, or you could just date Viggo?' Psymon joked. Viggo grinned awkwardly back at him, trying to pretend it wasn't an inside joke. Allegra laughed.

'That'd just be weird.' She grinned, her eyes glistening slightly.

Zoe sat by herself in her room. She wanted Allegra to get back soon, someone to talk 'girl talk' to. Moby probably wouldn't understand, and wouldn't really want to talk to her about that, he'd have better things to do.

There was a knock at the door. It wouldn't have been Allegra, her room key had gone, so she wouldn't need to knock. Zoe got up and opened the door. She never used to hole in the door to check who it was, it was easier to just open the door and find out.

Mac was leaning against the door frame, looking chilled.

'What do you want, Fraiser?' Zoe said harshly. Mac grinned.

'Be nice to me, or I won't tell you.' He smirked.

'Tell me what?' Zoe asked, still unwilling to let him into the room.

'Exactly,' Mac smiled. 'Can I come in?'

Zoe reluctantly stepped aside, allowing Mac to enter. He casually strolled into the apartment and took a seat. Zoe sat down at the dresser.

'So? What do you want to tell me?' She asked him.

'Well,' Mac began. 'There's a certain something about Mr Stark, that I know. And it concerns _you_.'


	8. Reactions

A/N: sorry it's been so long! I'm so sorry:( but I kinda didn't know where I was taking it, but I've got it back now I think:')

'Mac, I swear to God if you're fucking me around here, I'm gonna throw you out of the window.' Zoe warned him. Mac involuntarily leaned back, out of her reach. 'I'm not joking, Fraser – I've done it before.' Mac swallowed and nodded. He knew she'd done it before, the last time was when Psymon managed to piss her off so much, she pushed him through the window of the lodge.

'I'm not lying.' Mac said quietly. 'I'm genuinely not.'

Zoe sat back and analysed him. He'd just told her that Psymon liked her – in the way she liked him. But this was stupid, it was childish even, that Mac would come down and tell her that without wanting a reaction. Why bother? Psymon could just tell her himself, make a move.

'I'll just go…' Mac muttered, almost getting up. Zoe kicked him back onto the sofa.

'No, you won't,' She told him, although the hard exterior she'd been fronting had completely gone now, and Mac relaxed a little. 'tell me what he said.'

'I didn't hear everything, yo.' Mac held his hands up. 'And I might have misheard some of it, dawg.'

'Cut the crap,' Zoe warned him. 'No animals allowed, loose the _dawg_ at the door.'

'Sorry,' Mac laughed awkwardly. 'er… he was talking to Nate, I think, but I'm not sure. And I only walked past for like a second, and it didn't really register 'til I'd gone past them-'

'_Mac_.'

'Right, sorry,' Mac replied nervously. What if he was wrong about this? He shouldn't have told her. He should have just left it be! 'Psymon will kill me if he finds out I told you, Zoe.'

'_I'll_ kill you if don't tell me the whole story.'

Mac held his head in his hands for a moment. 'He told Nate that he was in love with you, but that he was scared to say it. He said he didn't really know what love was, or what it felt like, but if he could ever take a guess, he'd guess at what he felt for you.'

Zoe stared at the floor, inwardly screaming at herself not to cry.

'Thanks, Mac.' She forced herself to meet his gaze. 'Thank you.' And he surprised her then, by pulling her into a tight hug.

'No problems, dawg,' He told her, smiling. She lightly slapped him on the back of the head and they laughed.

Viggo sat in the apartment, bored out of his mind. He was seriously getting sick of having to use crutches every time he got up, and that cast had started to become Viggo's number one enemy. Taking a shower took hours because he had to keep the cast out of the water, and then it just made things worse when he'd got Mac or Griff banging on the door for him to hurry up! He'd taken to staring out of the window, because there was simply nothing else to do. Today, however, he felt so down that he was just lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

'Viggo,' Griff started. He didn't respond. '_Viggo_.' Nothing. Griff silently wondered if he'd died. 'Viggo, I'm gonna sit on your leg in a min.'

'_Griff_, I swear, if you do, I'm gonna smash your skull in with my crutches.' Viggo told him, still not looking at him.

'I'm bored.' Griff told him, ignoring the previous threat.

'Welcome to the club. At least you can go and board if you want to! All I can do is sit places and do nothing.' Viggo moaned, subconsciously messing with the pad on one crutch that was balanced against his bed.

'No one even wants me on the courses, so I can't go and practice.' Griff sighed, looking dejected. Viggo genuinely couldn't care less about that.

'Not surprising, Grommet,' He replied. 'you annoy _everyone_.'

'Kaori likes me.' He retorted moodily.

'Go hang out with her then.'

'She's always with Mac.'

'No shit,' Viggo muttered. 'they are together, after all.'

'Like you and Allegra?'

'_No_,' He shot back angrily. 'me and Allie are riding partners, there's a difference.'

'Kaori's Mac's girlfriend, _and_ his riding partner. Me and Allie are _just_ riding partners. She's not my girlfriend.' Viggo said slowly, just to make sure Griff understood.

He nodded. 'Okay. I get it.'

Viggo didn't reply, he just hoped Griff would be quiet now.

'But you fancy her though.'

'_Oh my God_,' Viggo pulled himself off the bed to glare at Griff. 'No, I don't!'

A knock at the door broke the start of their argument. Viggo gave Griff one last angry stare, before Griff got up to answer the door. Viggo dropped back onto the bed again, assuming Mac had forgotten his key card again.

'Hi, Allegra.' Griff said, a smile on face as if there was something funny going on. Viggo's eyes widened. Why was she here? Now, of all times? He hadn't done his hair or anything, he'd literally spent the whole morning trying to take a shower, then just lay on his bed.

'Alright?' She said to Griff, as she walked past him into the apartment. 'Hey, Viggo!' She sat down on Mac's bed to address her friend.

'Hey,' He turned his head to look at her. She looked like she'd already been on the slopes today, her hair was a little damp at the ends, and her cheeks had gone rosy since she'd come inside from the cold. But, despite all that, she still looked beautiful. 'been out?' He asked, knowing the answer already.

'Yeah,' She smiled caringly, not wanting to go into details in case it upset him.

'Where?'

'Only messing around on Crow's Nest.'

'Who was there?'

'Bloody hell, don't interrogate me,' She grinned at him. He managed a smile back.

'Sorry,' He sighed. 'only asking.'

'Zoe, Moby and Nate were already down there when I got there, so, we just did a few tricks and that. Nothing serious.'

Nate? Viggo tried to stop himself giving away how jealous that had suddenly made him. Why was Nate everywhere? And Viggo felt like Nate had one up on him, after all, he could meet Allegra on the slopes and pretend it was for practice, whereas any meeting Viggo had with her now had to have the sole purpose of being together.

'What about Elise? Was she there?'

'No…' She answered slowly. 'Don't know where she was.'

'Oh,' Viggo answered shortly. 'thought she was _with_ Nate, that's all.'

Allegra shrugged, evidently not really interested.

'Viggo, I'm bored.' He'd almost forgotten Griff was still there.

'Griff, go away.' Viggo answered in a bored tone.

'But, _Viggo_-'

'Get out.'

Griff stood up and grabbed his board from by his bed. 'If you don't fancy her, why do I have to leave every time she's around?'

Viggo bolted upright. 'Get. Out. Now.' Griff flashed his childish grin at him and promptly left the apartment. Viggo smiled awkwardly at Allegra.

'That was interesting.' She commented flatly.

'Ignore him. He doesn't know what he's talking about.' Viggo told her, still smiling like that would make everything go away. She raised her eyebrows at him.

'So… when he said "if you don't fancy her" he doesn't know what he's saying?' She questioned with a smirk. Viggo rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

'Ah… well,' He started, but he couldn't think of any words to finish with. Allegra couldn't stop herself laughing then, and she beamed at him.

'I'm only messing,' She chuckled. 'I know he's just a dumb kid.'

'Right,' Viggo answered with a sigh of relief. 'precisely.'

'You wanna go somewhere?' Allegra asked him. 'Bet you're sick of being indoors all the time.'

'You bet,' Viggo grinned at her, grabbing his crutches. 'oh, hey, actually – can you just throw my headband off the dresser?'

Allegra laughed quietly to herself as she got up to go and find his headband. 'Where on the dresser?' She asked him, staring at the mess of product bottles, papers and chocolate wrappers.

'Er… dunno, it's on there somewhere.'

'Great,' Allegra sighed. She pushed away some of the wrappers, not really wanting to touch anything. She raised her eyebrows when she found something else on the dresser. She held up the pack she'd just found – condoms. 'Yours?'

Viggo involuntarily blushed. 'No.'

'Sure?'

'Yep,' He grinned awkwardly. 'what do I want with them now? Who in their right mind shags a dude with a cast like this?' He hit his cast with his fist. 'Ow…'

'Idiot.' Allegra muttered, dropping the condoms back onto the dresser. She found the headband and threw it at him, he caught it though, haphazardly putting it on his head, his shaggy blonde hair sticking up around it. He shook his head like a dog, and everything fell back into place.

'Reckon they're Fraser's.' Viggo said suddenly, referring back to the condoms, even though they'd left that topic.

'Oh?' Allegra replied as they left the apartment. 'I reckon you're lying.'

'I'm not!' His voice went up an octave. He cleared his throat and put his voice back it's normal register. 'I'm not.'

'Whatever.'

'Seriously!'

'Drop it now.' She told him with a smile, ruffling his hair, knowing there was nothing he could do about while holding onto his crutches. He glared at her, but she knew he was kidding.

Moby sat on the edge of the Snow Jam course, just staring out across it's vastness. He'd spent the morning on Crow's Nest with some of the others, but they'd all had something else to do. Nate had told him what Psymon said to him, about Zoe. It hurt a little bit, knowing that they were going to be happy. It was callous, and he knew that, but he wanted to be with Zoe, and no matter how bad it was to think that way, he couldn't help it. And besides, Psymon was a complete whack-job, what good could he possibly be for her? Well… she was just about as off it as he was, but then again, she hadn't actually been to see a shrink.

'Whatcha thinking about?' A chilled voice behind him asked. Moby knew it was Zoe, so he didn't even turn around.

'Nothing,' He sighed. 'just… nothingness.'

'Sounds deep.' Zoe said, sitting down next to him, dropping her board on her other side.

'It is.' Moby smirked.

'I'll bet.' Zoe grinned back. Moby silently wondered if she knew what Psymon had said about her – but he wasn't going to be the one to tell her. She seemed in such a good mood today, and he liked it when it was directed at him, rather than Psymon.

'Don't you just love the snow,' Zoe commented brightly.

'I guess.'

'I mean, it brought us all together,' She continued with a smile. 'without SSX we'd never even know each other – any of us. Well, sure, there's some people on here we'd rather not have met,' She coughed and spat out _Elise_, then grinned at him. 'but I've made such good friends here. I never want it to end.'

'Don't get all philosophical on me,' Moby told her, but throwing a smile her way as well.

'I'm not,' She replied cheerily. 'just saying.'

'It's got to end sometime though,' Moby said sadly. Zoe pouted and nodded.

'I know,' She answered. 'but, when it's all over, we'll all have moved on to something new. Maybe some of us will stick together, but who knows?'

'Some of us?'

'Sure. Nate and Elise probably will get married or something…'

'_Elise_? _Married_? I don't think so, Zo.' Moby chuckled.

She grinned at him and shrugged. 'Never know. And Mac and Kaori, they're the type of people who'll just walk off into the sunset and be together forever.' Moby nodded in agreement at that. Mac and Kaori were probably set for life now. He was jealous of that.

'And what about me?' He asked her. 'Am I just going to be alone forever?'

'You'll find someone,' Zoe told him softly, swinging her arm over his shoulder. 'we all will.'


	9. True Feelings

It wasn't an official race, but the result still mattered. It was people's reputations on the line now, rather than their place on the leader board. So with everyone's egos let loose, a back country race down Happiness could only lead to disaster. It usually did.

Winds were blowing at gale force around Zoe as she stood tall at the top of the peak. They'd chosen a bad day to do this, and it hadn't been advised to go any higher than Metro City all week, but they still did. It was fun when you weren't supposed to be there.

'Zoe.' That cold, plastic voice of Elise Riggs chimed in from somewhere behind her, evidently having just got off the cable car.

'Elise.' She replied in the same manner.

'Told him yet?' Elise levelled with her so Zoe could just about see her from the corner of her eye.

'I have no idea what you're talking about.' She said calmly. Elise laughed almost cruelly. Zoe cast her a cold stare. 'Stopped shagging Atomika yet?' She stopped laughing.

'I'm with Nate.'

'That wasn't my question.'

Elise glared at her. 'Don't even go there.'

Zoe grinned back, knowing she had the upper hand now. 'You started it.'

'Don't be childish, Zoe, it's beneath you.'

'Better than whatever's been beneath you…'

Before Elise had a chance to respond, a whole hoard of other people arrived, having shared a car up there. Zoe smirked at her before re-directing her attention. Allegra was happily chatting away to Nate, and Zoe couldn't help but notice something else in Nate's expression. But he was with Elise, she'd just been reminded of that, she must have been mistaken. Moby was hanging like a spare part by Nate's side, looking dejected, a look he'd been wearing all too often recently. She made a mental note to ask him what was going on later. Mac had his arm draped over Kaori's shoulder and was saying something closely to her, and she was blushing a bit. Zoe smiled, she couldn't help it. And then there was Psymon, walking alone, as usual, and his eyes met Zoe's. She smiled and he beamed back at her. He didn't seem to be able to smile without looking psychotic, but Zoe still found it oddly endearing.

'Is this everyone?' She asked no one in particular.

'Where's Grommet?' Allegra asked, scanning the group to make sure she hadn't missed him.

Mac smirked. 'Keeping Viggo company.'

'He'll love that.' Allegra rolled her eyes at him. Mac shrugged casually.

'Ready then?' Elise asked impatiently, desperate to put Zoe through her paces now she'd not got the chance to continue their argument.

'Come on then!' Mac piped up. 'If you're that impatient, dawg.' He winked at Elise, but in a competitive way. And they just went after that, Elise firing up ahead of the pack. Zoe was hot on her tail, just as ready to make her pay for what she said to her about Psymon. She wasn't paying attention to what was going on around her any more, she couldn't be bothered. She didn't need to – she knew this course off by heart anyway. She was confident.

Nate watched as everyone headed off in front of him. He took his time. Something wasn't quite right, and he could tell. Sure, Zoe and Elise usually had this kind of stupid argument, but that wasn't it. Someone was going to do something stupid, and someone needed to be looking out for it. It was too dangerous to take your eyes off the ball.

Viggo was stuck indoors yet again, and they'd left him with Grommet as company. How thoughtful. Frankly, he'd rather have spent the time alone. For the past half an hour Griff had drank them out of Cola and almost eaten all the biscuits. Viggo, on the other hand, was still sipping at the glass of water he'd got, and had eaten nothing. He didn't feel like it.

'Hey, Viggo-'

'Shut-up.' He cut him off before he even had the chance to address a topic.

Griff persisted. 'You said you didn't fancy Allegra, right?'

'Right.'

'But you always want me to leave whenever she's around, and you go all weird and smiley when you see her…'

Viggo gritted his teeth. Why did Griff have to try and get involved in something a twelve-year-old is never going to understand? 'I'm smiley anyway.'

'No, you're not.'

'Sure, I am,' Viggo grinned at him to prove a point.

Griff winced and leaned backwards in his chair. 'You look scary.'

Viggo rolled his eyes. 'No pleasing some folk.'

'I'm sure you must like Allegra.' Griff was insistent on not dropping this topic. Viggo sat up and leaned against the wall to look the kid in the eyes. Griff swallowed, realising he may have overstepped the line.

'And what would it be to you, Grommet, if I did?' He said quietly.

'Just so you'd admit it.'

'And if I did?'

Griff shrugged. 'I dunno.' Viggo smirked – exactly, he had no idea what he was going to do with this information once he had it. 'Might tell Mac.' Viggo snapped out of his smugness.

'_What_?' He spat.

Griff grinned widely. 'Just thought I might. I mean, if you're completely honest and admit it… then I won't.'

Viggo thought about it. Could he really trust a child with something like this? One candy bar and Griff would tell you the world's best kept secrets if he knew them.

'Fine, Griff,' Viggo said suddenly. 'I like her.' Griff was about to say something, when Viggo cut him off again. He'd asked him to be honest, so why not overwhelm him with it? 'Whenever I see her I just want to be with her forever. I never want her to leave. She's beautiful. I wanna get lost in her eyes, because I don't care if I ever find a way out or not – because I'm not looking for a way out, I'd happily stay there until the end of time. She could say or do anything and I'd never abandon her. She's completely unique, and I've never met anyone like her, and I never will again. She's one in a million. And that's about the chances of me ever getting with her – one in a million.'

Griff's jaw fell open in amazement. Had the _Scanner_ really said that? Because that sounded like something a lot more than one little crush, that Griff had previously suspected.

'I'm sorry,' Griff said in a small voice that was uncommon to him.

Viggo shook his head. 'Don't be. But, you will be if you tell _anyone_. Alright?'

He nodded slowly, and Viggo went back to his busy hobby of staring at the ceiling.

Meanwhile, things had gone from bad to worse out in the back country. There was no set route down the mountain, and everyone had naturally found their own route. Zoe was off on her own, as she liked it, and she had no idea whether she was in the lead or not. She was a thin tunnel, coated in ice, with sunlight dripping through the gap at the top above her. A shadow appeared in the light she'd been watching the reflection of in the ice, she slowed up a little and stared above her. Elise flew overhead, and Zoe was unaware of whether she knew she was there or not. A few lumps of previously undisturbed snow smashed through the gap, which was precarious at the least. Zoe sped up, it was best to get out of that tunnel right now, even if it led to nothing, it was still dangerous to have things falling from over head. The snow must have dislodged a rock as it fell, and Zoe didn't notice as all her attention was taken up on trying to get out quickly. Something hit her in the back of the head, and then everything went black.

Psymon heard a noise. Not a normal noise, like snow shreds, or boards hitting the snow. It was a hard sound, like a rock or a boulder. That was the thing about Psymon, he wasn't normal. He heard that and doubted anyone else did. It hadn't hit the snow though, because that wouldn't have registered at all with him, it had hit something else, because it made a dull sound on impact. It was probably nothing, but as he stared at the impending finishing point, there was one face who wasn't there who should have been. So, Moby wasn't there, that was irrelevant, he'd been on a pretty bad form recently, but Zoe? She should have outrun Elise. Psymon turned back, throwing all his weight to the front of his board to get back up the hill he'd just come down.

'Psymon?' Allegra called after him. 'Psymon, what's going on?'

'Zoe,' He yelled back. 'she's not here.'

Allegra glanced around at everyone else, they didn't seem too concerned. Zoe was always going off by herself, pulling vanishing acts. When she turned back to see if she could followed Psymon, he was gone.

He followed his memory to where he was when he heard the noise, then cross referenced it in his mind to where it would have come from. He stared around where he ended up. It should have been here, but there was nothing there. He picked up a small rock and threw it onto the snow. It didn't even make nearly the same noise. The one he'd heard had echoed. Maybe from a tunnel, or a crevice?

'Zoe?' He called out slightly redundantly, having run out of options. Nothing. '_Zoe_!' Louder. He took unhooked his board and took a step forwards, and nearly fell straight down a gap that had been covered up by snow. He jumped backwards, then cleared some of the snow, just to see what was down there. As he began to clear the snow, a soft moan issued from within the gap.

'Zoe?' He tried one more time, maybe he was hearing things – it wouldn't be the first time.

'Psymon?' It was her. He frantically threw the snow aside, and dropped himself into the tunnel, not even bothering to see if it was safe or not. He skidded a little on the ice, but steadied himself quickly. Zoe was lying on the ice, a small frozen pool of blood beside her head. 'Shit,' She muttered, trying to sit up.

'Don't,' Psymon instructed her, sliding across the ice to kneel down by her head. 'don't move, okay?'

'Mm, fine.' She mumbled, her face showing the strain it was to even attempt to sit upright. He gently placed her head on his lap.

'You hit your head?'

'No,' She said through gritted teeth. 'a rock hit my head.'

'At least it didn't knock out your sarcasm.'

She smiled weakly at him.

'Psy,' She said in a near whisper.

'Yeah?'

'I think I'm gonna pass out.'

'Fuck,' He'd almost forgotten the situation at hand, she seemed fine! But that was Zoe, she'd always be fine. If she'd just got herself run over, she'd still insist she could get back up and carry on what she was doing. Psymon dug into his pocket and brought out his MComm, dialled for the slope medic, and put it to his ear.

'Someone should go back.' Allegra said for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

'_No_,' Elise said firmly. 'if she's out there, he'll bring her back. Hell, she'll cling on for dear life if he's the one carrying her back to safety.' She scoffed.

Allegra spun around, her hair whipping behind her and smacking Mac in the face. He didn't mention it, she didn't look like she was in a mood to be messed with.

'How can you say that at a time like this?' Allegra practically screamed, causing most of the team to take a cursory step backwards. 'She could be hurt, and you're making jokes?'

Elise put on hand on her hip and her cold, blue eyes addressed Allegra.

'If she's hurt, there's nothing we can do about it now. Psymon will call the medic if he's got any sense… oh wait…' She smirked at her team mate.

Nate grabbed Allegra's arms just in time, as she was about to take a swing for Elise. She struggled hard against her captor, but even her aggression was no rival to Nate's pure muscle.

'Nate! Get off me!' She growled. He didn't move an inch. She stopped struggling and he eventually let go of her, and she stormed off towards the cable cars without another word. Elise laughed coldly, but everyone ignored it.

Allegra's mind went onto autopilot as she was just too angry to think straight. Her feet were taking her to where her mind wanted her to go, without actually consulting her about it first, and the next thing she knew, she was standing outside Viggo, Griff and Mac's apartment. She took a deep breath. Did she really want to burden him with everything that was going on? He probably wouldn't even care anyway. She could hear him arguing with Griff anyway, it was probably best to just go… But she couldn't help it. She was practically rooted to the spot, she didn't want to listen in, yet she was still standing there.

'So,' Griff was saying. 'I don't understand. If you really like her, y'know, like you said, then why not tell her? They say you're meant to be honest.' He said innocently.

She heard Viggo sigh, evidently this had been going on a while. 'Because, Grommet,' He paused and Allegra assumed he was glaring at him. 'I can't just _tell her_. It's not as simple as you make it out to be. What if she doesn't feel the same? I'm going to look like such a dick if she doesn't like me that way…'

'You won't look-'

'_Metaphorically._'

'Oh,' Griff replied quietly. 'I knew that. But anyway, surely it'd be better to just go for it. I mean, you're snowboarder, you're meant to be all up for taking a risk.'

'I took a risk, and look what happened!' Viggo retorted angrily, and Allegra knew he was talking about his leg.

'Er, yeah,' Griff answered awkwardly. 'right… But still. You should tell her.'

'And why would I take relationship advice from you, Grommet? A twelve-year-old kid!' Viggo raised his voice slightly.

'I'm just gonna go now…' Griff said, and Allegra heard his footsteps nearing the door. She briefly wondered what to do, panicking a little in case she got caught eavesdropping. She took a few steps backwards down the corridor, so she could make it look like she'd only just got there. Griff nearly walked straight into her.

'Whoa, calm the rush, Griff.' She told him convincingly. He managed a small smile, before he continued off down the corridor. Allegra stood in the doorway for a moment, waiting for Viggo to tell her to come in. He didn't even notice her, as he had his hands over his face.

'Viggo?'

He jumped and sat up, smacking his head on the sloped ceiling above his bed. He instantly raised his hand to rub his head. 'Shit,' He muttered. 'I mean, hey, Allie.'

'Hey,' She grinned at him and his clumsiness.

'Come in,' He told her, ushering her in with his hand. She did as she was told and shut the door behind her. Her mind was whizzing through all the things she'd just heard them talking about, and quickly put it together with what Griff had said about Viggo liking her the day before. But she was just making assumptions. It was probably a misunderstanding.

'Have fun with Griff?' She asked with a smirk.

'Oh, God. Don't even talk about Grommet.' Viggo groaned. 'I actually want to murder him and set fire to his body.'

'Bit harsh.'

'It really isn't.' He grinned at her, his messy hair falling around his blue eyes. Allegra blinked and forced herself to look away. He'd think she was crazy. Viggo changed the subject before things got awkward. 'Good time in the backcountry?'

She shrugged. 'I guess. I nearly hit Elise though.'

'Haven't we all.'

'No, I mean I actually took a swipe at her, but Nate stopped me.'

Viggo's eyes narrowed. Nate. Again. 'Shit.' He said, short of anything else to say.

'I know,' She sighed. 'Zoe's gone missing, and Elise – that bitch – made a joke about it.'

'Zoe's gone missing?'

'She'll show up. Psymon went back up after her, so if he doesn't find her then she'd disappeared off the face of the earth. He's like a bloodhound or something.'

Viggo smirked. She was right, Psymon definitely wasn't entirely human. He was his own race most of the time, no one was quite similar enough to him to even be the same species.

'What pissed Grommet off so much, then?' Allegra asked, deciding she could bring that up without looking suspicious.

'Oh,' Viggo said slowly, trying to think of another answer. 'He… er, he just –'

The door flew open and slammed against the wall behind it. It was closely followed by a loud bang on the wall next to theirs. Psymon ignored it though, as he stormed into the apartment and threw himself into the chair by the desk, his eyes were dark and stormy. Allegra swallowed, not quite knowing what to say next, although, someone else spoke for her.

'Enough with the noise, Rolig!' Atomika's voice issued from the corridor, before he appeared in the doorway. His eyes widened as he saw Psymon, then the look on his face. 'Ah, fuck.'

'Damn right, Atomika!' Psymon muttered, lifting his head and glaring at him. Atomika smiled awkwardly.

'Just… just try to keep the noise down a little… Oh God, is that the time? Bye.' And he shut the door and left.

'Did you find her?' Allegra took a risk and asked him, after all, she was her roommate. He nodded slowly. 'Is she okay?'

Psymon shrugged. 'Probably. She hit her head on a rock, I called the medics and she's gone up to the hospital. They wouldn't let me go with her.' He stared at the floor. 'Bastards.'

Viggo couldn't help but think they had no choice but to refuse Psymon's request, they were medics after all. Why would they let someone like him near a medical patient?

'Least she's in the right place then.' Allegra said, unable to think of any other way to reply. Psymon nodded regretfully.

'She'll be fine, Psy.' Viggo assured him. He merely nodded once more. Allegra exchanged a glance with Viggo, unsure of what to do now. They'd never seen Psymon upset before. It was something that just didn't happen. They sat in silence, having no idea what to say to him to make him feel better. Zoe just meant so much, there was probably nothing they could say to ever make that better.


End file.
